Jay data center developer sought to give Janet Mills ‘cover’ for key veto, emails show
Emails reveal that a developer for a stalled data center project in Jay, Maine, solicited letters of support to provide "cover" for Gov. Janet Mills' veto of a statewide data center ban. The ban, which would have prohibited new data centers until late 2027, was ultimately rejected after the Legislature failed to override Mills' veto. The data center project that Mills' veto aimed to protect has since stalled, with its operator pulling out.
Emails obtained by the Bangor Daily News indicate that Maine Governor Janet Mills' office collaborated with the developer of a data center project in Jay. Real estate developer Tony McDonald of the Portland-based Boulos Co., who was leading the Jay project, actively solicited letters of support from Jay officials and a labor union. These letters were intended to provide Governor Mills with "cover" for her eventual veto of a statewide data center ban.
The proposed ban, which would have prohibited new data centers across Maine until late 2027, was a politically sensitive measure. McDonald's communications show that Mills had concerns about the ban's impact on the Jay project weeks before her veto. He even drafted language for an exemption for the Jay project at the governor's request, and asked town officials to send letters backing an exemption and later, a veto itself. Jay selectmen quickly complied.
Despite the efforts, the Legislature passed the bill without the Jay carveout. Governor Mills vetoed the bill in April, a decision her office defended as standard practice for gathering local input. The Legislature subsequently failed to override the veto, leading to the moratorium bill's demise. However, Sentinel, the data center company slated to operate the Jay site, pulled out in June, causing the project to stall regardless of the veto. Critics, including former state Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, have argued that Mills' opposition to the ban was based on a "flimsy pretext" driven by developers' promises.
The three candidates vying to replace the term-limited Governor Mills – Democrat Hannah Pingree, Republican Bobby Charles, and independent Rick Bennett – have all stated they would have signed the ban, highlighting ongoing political divisions on data center development in Maine.